The Mistress
by Sasu-chuu
Summary: With Naruto in office and their kids at school, life was almost too perfect. "Hinata has the right to know." Sakura told herself as she paced back and forth on the Uzumaki's doorstep. There was a dark secret she keep to herself, that seemed to eat away at her sanity. "I must tell her, before someone else does." Sakura took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.
1. The Hurt

An early spring afternoon at the Uzumaki's.

Dread came over Sakura as Hinata leant over to top up her cup of tea. Married to a successful man with 2 children, she had it all... At least that's what she thought.

With a smile Sakura kindly gestured a thank you to Hinata before picking up the cup and saucer. Pressing the cup to her lips, she hoped the hot water would take her mind off the matter at hand.

'Cheating bastard! How could he do that to this honest and beautiful woman?' She contemplated.

"Thank you for coming over Sakura," Hinata spoke softly picking up her cup and saucer while she leant back into her chair. "Now that the kids are in school and Naruto's busier than ever, it's just me at home."

Sakura laid her cup onto the sauce and placed her saucer. She lent over her crossed legs and placed her saucer onto the coffee table. She pressed her fingers together against her lips and closed her eyes.

"S-Sakura.. Are you alright? Is everything okay?" Nervous, Hinata placed her cup and saucer down as well.

Sakura took a deep breath, trying to build the courage to speak.

"I have some bad news... It's about Naruto..."

Worried, Hinata place her hand on her chest. "What's wrong with Naruto? Did something happen?" By the time she finished asking her questions, Hinata was on the edge of her seat and her eyes wide with genuine concern. Sakura quickly pulled her thoughts together trying to focus on the subtle approach.

"He's being unfaithful!" Sakura blurted out, quickly covering her mouth. 'That was not subtle!' She screamed internally.

Taken aback, Hinata's glassy eyes quickly turn to confusion and frustration.

"W-wait... What? Why would you say that?"

"I'm so sorry Hinata, but it's true.. I saw him." Sakura said gently as she got up to kneel at Hinata's feet.

Hinata flinched and shifted in her seat, clearly displaying her discomfort. "T-that's not true. Why would you accuse my husband of...of cheating?" She turned her eyes quickly to Sakura's both enraged and offended. "What proof do you have?"

Sakura crawled over to her bag and pulled out a white envelope and placed it next to Hinata's cup.

"It's all in there..." Sakura said. "I've been following him over the winter after suspecting something wasn't right... this is what I have."

Hinata stared and the envelope for a while.

She respected Sakura and knew she wasn't the kind to stir things up on a whim. But in the back of her mind she hoped it was some sort of lonely house wife behaviour and that this would all be a mistake.

After losing the battle in her mind, Hinata reached over with shaky hands. As she pulled out several photographs from the envelope it revealed her worst nightmare.

It was Naruto with what looked like a mysterious woman. On 3 different occasions he was found kissing and grabbing her in inappropriate places.

Hinata's heart sunk and her hands froze letting the photographs fall to the floor. She looked up at Sakura with disbelief and turned bright red.

Sakura's eyes began tearing up as Hinata hid her face behind her hands. She leaped to Hinata's side and wrapped her arms around her placing Hinata's head on her chest.

"You're one of my closest friends and I didn't want you to hear from someone else…" Sakura said feeling a thump form in her throat as she continued, "I know it's a lot to take in. I didn't want to believe it myself."

"D-do you know who she is?" Hinata sniffled in a weak voice.

"Unfortunately no... I only managed to get Naruto and not the other woman."

Hinata shrugged off Sakura, tears threatening her eyes. "How many people know about this?"

Trying her best to comfort her she replied. "Only me… and Sasuke. I haven't said anything to anyone else…"

Hinata quickly ran into the kitchen. Sakura followed soon after. Pulling a scroll from her spice cabinet, she released the scroll and there poofed a delicate large lunch box with a fine Crimson cover and deep black container with a beautiful lacquer finish, wrapped in a cherry blossom scarf.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Hinata?" Sakura asked softly.

Without a word Hinata placed the scroll back onto the rack. She glided into the living room and picked up the images, slid them back into the envelope and placed them into Sakura's hand.

"Please destroy these… along with the negatives." Hinata asked politely, taking Sakura's free hand to her chest. "As a friend... No. As a best friend I ask... please keep this between you and Sasuke."

Her eyes where as big as they were before, pleading for Sakura to honour her request.

With a quiet nod and sheepish smile Sakura acknowledged her. Hinata quickly grab the lunch box and her house keys and briskly walked to the front door.

"Hinata?" Sakura called out again quickly following close behind. "Where are you going?"

"Naruto," she replied quickly putting on her boots and coat.

"What do you mean? Are you going to him?" Running the question back in her mind, it was stupid. But Sakura couldn't shake the feeling that she was indirectly about to be the cause of a broken family.

She stopped briefly after pulling the zip on her last boot, hair covering her face as she replied. "I-I... love Naruto. I'm sure he loves me too... I must speak to him..."

"Wait... Hinata!" Sakura panicked as she ran to her side. She knelt in front of her again and held her shoulder. "You can't talk to him now? Y-you.. Don't you think it's too soon? Why not wait until he gets home? You need time to process your emotions..."

The dread from before were now heavy weights on Sakura's shoulders. There were too many mix feelings at this point. The righteous feeling she felt before was no longer there.

'What have I done? Was this the right thing to do? I'm so sorry Hinata.'

Hinata shook her head, hair still covering her face. "I must take his lunch to his office... There I will speak to him..."

Sakura's heart sank even deeper. In the face of adversity, Hinata was still the loving doting wife. She could relate to Hinata and it made her blood boil. How could he do this to her!? How dare he!?

"Okay..." Sakura finally said breaking the silence. "I'll come with yo-"

"NO!" Hinata exclaimed looking at Sakura with her teary eyes. "I appreciate all that you've done...I truly am. Thank you for telling me Sakura. But I must do this alone. This is not your battle… I must face Naruto and ask him myself."

"But..."

Hinata gently stood up and opened the front door. Bowing low, "Thank you Sakura, but I must leave. My family is in trouble and it is my job to keep us together."


	2. The Submission

_**Hokage's office 2:45pm.**_

"Naruto you've got two more meetings this afternoon and you have to find time to go down to the research labs before 5pm. There's a mess the Hokage must deal with." Shikamaru gestured, flicking his fingers across the clip board.

Naruto could feel his sanity slowly slipping away.

"Oh and don't forget that pile of paper in the corner are amongst other things on your to do list." Shikamaru later pointed.

"Aha!" Naruto sprung into action. "I read and signed all those documents at 4 this morning!"

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru returned. "That pile is entirely new! It's the upgrade and building consent for the East Quarter."

"Haaa!?" Naruto retorted slamming his body over his desk. "Please tell me you're joking... I'm only running on 4 hours sleep here."

"Perks of being Hokage..." Shikamaru returned with an empathetic look on his face.

"Ugghhgghhh… I'm going to die in this paper tomb-tebayo!" Naruto exasperated sliding slumped back into his chair.

Suddenly there was a quiet knock on the door before the beautifully radiant Hinata kindly let herself in, yielding the stunning lacquered box almost like a peace offering.

"Oh, Hinata!" Shikamaru said surprised. "I haven't seen you in a while."

Naruto popped up both surprised and happy to see his beautiful wife, but more importantly to what was in the box.

"Good afternoon Shikamaru, I could say the same to you. I hope I'm not interrupting?"

"No no... Please, we've just finished our debrief. Did you want to quickly speak to Naruto?" Shikamaru replied trying to make her meeting quick in the nicest way possible.

Hinata glided between the desk and the door and turned to face Shikamaru politely.

"Yes... The Seventh's been working quite hard lately, it seems he has left his lunch back at home."

Naruto's ears quickly perked up at the sound of food. Though he couldn't smell anything he was almost too delusional to care. 'Hinata always makes the most delicious meals! I wonder what the special occasion is?' Cheekily he rose from his chair to try and peer over her shoulder to get a better look at the box.

"Oh, I don't think he'll be able to eat lunch at his desk today," Shikamaru said politely. "He's got several meetings to take care of this aftern.."

"No!" Hinata spoke sharply cutting him off.

Both men froze.

"Please reschedule all his appointments for today, this is very important." She continued in a softer voice, as if the harsh 'no' didn't happen. "I need to speak to the hokage... To my husband privately."

The dark aura in the room sent chills down both the men's spine. Strangely this feeling felt all too familiar to Shikamaru with Temari not far from his mind.

Both men stood there dumbfounded as what to say.

"You're a smart man Skikamaru, I would do as I say." Hinata spoke breaking the silence.

Her smile was cold and terrifying. He'd never experience Hinata like this before. Shikamaru had experienced many angry women and was wise enough not to engage in verbal combat.

"A-absolutely.. I'll leave you too it." Shikamaru returned. 'Uh-oh.. Naruto is in big trouble...' He quickly thought to himself.

As he looked up from Hinata, His eyes briefly met Naruto's. A wide eyed shell of a man stared back mouthing confused 'help me!'.

'Should I have the medical staff on standby?' Shikamaru thought as he walked out, closing the door behind him. As the lock clipped on the door the hairs on Naruto's neck stood on edge.

Himawari definitely got her scary side from her mum... That's for sure.

Hinata has rarely ever been this mean...

"Hinata, my love," Naruto spoke gently, trying to lighten the mood. "You can't rearrange my schedule like that. I have a responsibility to uphold as ho-..."

She turned slowly with her hair covering her face and placed the box on Naruto's crowded desk. Naruto's senses began to heighten. The aura in the room quickly turned murderous.

He swallowed hard.

"H-Hinata… Honey… Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Naruto slowly stood over his desk trying his best to see her face. 'Don't tell me I forgot our anniversary!' Naruto screamed in his head.

She finally mumbled a response too low for him to hear.

"What was that?"

Hinata gently crossed her arms and held onto her elbows. She looked insecure and nervous like she did as a teenager. Naruto could tell by her body language it was serious. He'd learnt over the years, he had to approach this situation carefully.

"Are the kids okay!?" he asked trying to shift the focus away from him. When she didn't respond he quickly leaped over his desk and stood in front of her.

Still on the defensive Hinata shifted back as Naruto reached out to hold her.

'What have I done?' Naruto quickly asked himself. 'If it's not the kids, she must be upset about my long hours.'

"Please honey, tell me what wro-..."

In a split second her hand struck Naruto across the face, hard enough to turn his entire body sideways. The sound was crisp and rang in the office. Naruto fell to his knees in complete and utter dismay.

What just happened?

"Sakura..." She mumbled.

Surprised Naruto quickly found her eyes. He could see her eyes welling up. His gut wrecked as his heart crept into his throat.

"No.." He responded sincerely. "Hinata..."

She flicked over one of the photos Sakura had given her of Naruto grabbing the ass of a cloaked woman. Naruto's mouth dropped.

"Explain…"

"What?" He returned in disbelief, looking up at her with fearful eyes.

"Why?"

"Please my love... Believe me. I would never..."

Without another word Naruto squeezed his eyes shut embracing a hot white flash of pain across his face. Confused and afraid to speak, Naruto silently swallowed the strike against the same cheek. As the pain slowly subsided and the ringing of his whipped flesh in his ears quietened, he realized the second strike was different from the last.

Strangely he was just as familiar with his object as he was with Hinata's hand.

A riding crop?

"Address me correctly."


	3. The Heartache

The Heartache

Uzumaki's residence.

A lump grew in Sakura's throat as she saw Hinata run out the door. Instantly she regretted telling her, but she felt a strong need for justice and to set things right.

Hinata's love for Naruto is the same as her love for Sasuke. Sakura felt she had a duty as a women and a mother to protect Hinata. But no matter how she put it, the hole in her chest felt as empty as it was before she told her the truth.

Sakura grabbed her stuff and locked up. She stopped at the front door for a moment and thought to wait for Hinata. But with all that raw emotion she couldn't justify staying, so she left.

Sakura's thoughts were so clouded, it led her to a patch of forest quite awhile away from her apartment. Her body felt heavy as her her thoughts drifted.

'Did I really do that right thing?' She continued to asked herself. She stopped in her tracks looking down at her feet.

Fear creeped up on her as she thought of Sasuke. 'What would I do if he ever cheated on me?' She thought. With her head hanging over her shoulders she could feel her blood boil. In a wave of brief rage, she jabbed the air punching a whole in the trees near by.

"I would ring both their necks! Sharrrrano!" She barked before coming back to her senses. She stood in the underbrush and wiped her tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

This was unfair.

Why couldn't she shake this horrible feeling.

Sakura wasn't sure what to expect. She hoped that if she told her the pit in her stomach would disappear. She felt terrible keeping this secret and even worse now she had told her.

What good did it bring?

"Stop it." A stern voice called from the shadows.

She turned quickly.

"Stop crying."

"Sasuke.." She sighed relieved.

"You're really pathetic you know." He said endearingly. "Why do you always end up in the forest when you're upset?"

Happy to see her husband back from his mission, she turned and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. She briefly nuzzled her face in his chest and looked up at him with sad eyes.

"It's when you're gone that I end up here. It helps me think," She sniffed. "it makes me feel closer to you... Welcome home."

He gave her a soft smile.

"What's the matter?" He said in a soft voice curling her hair behind her ear. She slowly averted her eyes to the ground, than back to his.

His eyebrows knitted together. "You told Hinata, didn't you?"

It was when her eyes darted away that Sasuke pushed her from his chest and forced her to look him in the eyes. "I thought I told you to stay out of it?

"W-what?" Sakura replied both guilty and shocked. "How could I not?"

"That is none of our business Sakura, I told you."

Refusing to back down she argued the only point she could. "If it happened to me I would want someone to tell m.."

"It will never happen!" He roared cutting her off.

Sakura was taken aback. His words struck a chord in her chest and made her quiet. She was relieved. Having him say it to her face gave her that little boost of reassurance she needed. As her feelings fluttered and dance on her skin, it would soften the scolding she was about to receive.

"You've made a mess of things."

She hung her head low and closed her eyes. Sakura knew deep down he was right.

She stood still as Sasuke made his way down through the underbrush, closer to the city. Sakura pulled her arms closer to her chest to make herself as small as she could.

"Go home Sakura." he ordered frustrated.

She looked up once again to see the back of his cape billow in the wind. In her last effort to fix what she had done, she lunged forward to try and catch his shoulder.

"I didn't mean to..." She called out as sincerely as she could, but in a blink of an eye he had disappeared.

A slow second later she felt Sasuke stand behind her. He placed his cold palm to the base of her neck and held it gently.

Sakura knew it was her fault, she knew there was nothing she could do, but she needed to tell him it wasn't out of spite. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but keeping this a secret was eating her inside.

"I know where you were coming from, but you should have listened to me." He said in a softer tone. "Don't do anything stupid. I want you to go home."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. "I'm sorry."

Her voice broke as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes before he left.

It was a battle Sakura could have never won. To tell her or not tell her, she was going to find out from one person or another. By being the one to tell her she thought she could spare Hinata, but really it was to satisfy the deep sorrow she had built up in her chest.

She hoped that what ever the truth was.. It would show itself it all it's glory.


End file.
